


Silk

by Pi (Rhea)



Category: Kino no Tabi | Kino's Journey - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-23
Updated: 2011-11-23
Packaged: 2017-10-26 11:36:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/282577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhea/pseuds/Pi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kino goes to a country famous for growing fabric. written for prompt silk, velvet, feathers, furs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Silk

The first thing Kino notices about the new country are all the clothing shops. Kino knows very little about this place. They might have missed it if Hermes hadn't been arguing about how bumpy the road was. The road they'd turned off onto had been much nicer than the main road, but clearly less traveled. Kino didn't have anywhere to be of course, and Hermes was happier, purring along under the shade of a forest and no longer pestering his rider. They'd come across a sign in a script Kino couldn't read. But since they were there already, as Hermes pointed out, they followed the gleaming wooden plaques until they reached a tall marble gate.  
"Kino, I don't think we're dressed properly" Hermes whispered. Kino thought Hermes was probably right, the woman behind the desk was wearing a draped dress of a fine shiny fabric. Most of the people they'd seen were dressed similarly. Deep rich colors, and smoother textures than Kino had ever seen.  
"And how much is the room?" Kino asked. The woman smiled and listed a number. Kino didn't know the currency. Kino always carried gold coins for this purpose.  
"Will these do?" The woman nodded and led Kino to the room. The bed was funrished in rich wood, smooth and treated to glossy shine with oil, like the plaques they'd seen on the way here. Kino stared around once the woman left.  
"This must be a very rich county." Kino commented. Hermes agreed and Kino could tell Hermes was impressed.  
"I wonder if they have parts for motorcycles here. If everything is such good quality." Kino nodded. Kino checked over their bags and Kino practiced with the persuader, toes flexing against the rich plush of the carpet. It was very late when Kino was finally tired. The sheets of the bed were similar to the cloth of the womans robe in appearance. They felt like water in solid form, slick against Kino's fingers.  
"I've never felt fabric like this." Kino murmured, sliding under the sheet. Hermes muttered something sleepily.

The next day they explored deeper into the country. Kino would only have one more day here, then it would be time to leave. There were no parts for motorcycles, but Kino was introduced to the grower of cloth. The man was very old with long, fine, white hair and a wrinkled face. He did not seem perturbed when Kino asked, "How does cloth grow?"  
"Come with me traveler and I'll show you." Kino followed the old many into a large glass building filled with trees laden with dark red and black berries. Kino looked around but could not see the beautiful cloth that everyone in this country seemed to wear. The old man lead deeper into the rows of trees. Eventually they stopped. Up in the tree there was a white egg, only it appeared almost soft looking, like the fluff of tree pollen that sometimes made Kino sneeze.  
"What is it?" Kino asked.  
"Growing fabric" The old man explained. "Inside is a very special worm. We let them live here and give them trees and they give us beautiful cloth."  
"It's from a worm?!" Hermes asked, scandalized. He wasn't very sensative.  
"Hermes!" Kino chided.  
"But worms are slimy and wriggle about." Hermes pointed out.  
"True, but these worms are special. They create the finest of all threads. Here I will show you." The old man plucked the white egg. Back in the house was in a room which was full of baskets with stacks of the white eggs on every surface. Kino watched the old man place egg in water then slowly start to unspin it's threads. "We call it silk." The old man said.  
"Silk." Kino tried the word, foreign, yet fitting.

When they retired that night, Kino ran callused fingers over the fabric of the bed sheets. Silk. They were smooth, cool beneath fingers then slowly warmer.  
"I really have never seen anything like this." Kino confided to Hermes. "Have you?" He seemed to think a moment.  
"No, Kino, I don't think I have." Kino untucked pants from boots and folded all the clothing into the bags beside the motorcycle.  
"Perhaps we should buy some." The sheet sheet shushed across Kino's bare shoulders. It was a feeling not unlike a soft summer breeze. Kino shivered a little, balling some of the fabric in one hand and letting it go, smoothing the crumbled cloth with steady fingers.  
"You should sleep, Kino." Hermes suggested. Kino nodded absently, still turning in the feeling of the fabric against legs and torso. Kino laid down and did eventually sleep.

The next day they prepared to leave. Kino bought food, and double checked Hermes' valves and breaks. The lady at the hotel smiled when Kino asked where the best place would be to buy a shirt. They found the store the woman mentioned among the many shops lining the main street. The wood sign shone brightly in the midafternoon light. Hermes complained about time but Kino spent a full hour running fingers across the fabrics. There were so many richly beautiful colors to decide from.  
"Which should it be Hermes?" Kino asked.  
"I don't care." Hermes grumbled, "You're the one to wear it. It's not made for a traveler, you'll get it dirty and smelly and you'll never wear it."  
"I'll wear it." Kino promised, "and I wont get it dirty. It's special." Hermes didn't reply to that. There was a shirt of the deepest green that Kino's fingers finally paused on. It was smooth as all the other silks. It felt perfect and looked like the most beautiful forest Kino could remember.  
"This one." Kino said and Hermes didn't disagree. Kino carefully packed the shirt in the bike pannier and they road away. Hermes grumbled when they reached the main road again but Kino didn't mind, feeling the thrum of the engine beneath and with the sky stretch out far, far ahead. There were more countries to see, but Kino would take a bit of this one with them. And there was still so much more to learn.


End file.
